Hitting a home run in a world series game is the desire of every baseball player (just ask Addison Barger). Hitting a home run in our sermon introductions should be the desire of every preacher. So how can we do that?
Category: preaching
Getting Free from Your Sermon Manuscript (Part 3 of 3)
How do you keep your manuscript from become a manacle? How do you break free from your carefully prepared manuscript so the sermon is preached rather than read? That's the focus of this final installment in the mini-series on Sermon Manuscripts.
How to Write Your Sermon Manuscript (Part 2 of 3)
In my last post, I offered seven reasons why manuscripting your message makes for better sermons. In this post, I want to offer some suggestions on How to Write Your Sermon Manuscript. After studying the passage to discover the Big Idea and craft a sermon outline, how should a preacher approach writing the manuscript? Here are seven practices I’ve found helpful in writing a sermon manuscript.
Why Sermon Manuscripts Make Better Sermons (Part 1)
After preaching for almost 40 years, I still write a manuscript for every sermon. I get the fact that not everyone is sold on writing out a manuscript for their messages. So let me offer seven reasons why manuscripting is worth the time and effort.
Preachers: Here’s a one-hour change that will improve your sermons (and lower your stress)
A number of years ago, I took a preaching course with Haddon Robinson. One of the most helpful things he taught us was a way to take some pressure off sermon preparation and wind up with a better sermon. The…
Read More Preachers: Here’s a one-hour change that will improve your sermons (and lower your stress)
Right-sizing Your Ministry Expectations
What are your expectations in ministry? Would you say they are high or low? Optimistic, realistic, or even pessimistic? How can we right-size our expectations? That's the focus of this post.
Summer Tuesdays with Ezra (Chapter 8)
Ezra 8 Chapter 8 reads like an entry from Ezra’s personal journal; in vivid detail he chronicles the actions he took to gather and lead the company of exiles back to Jerusalem in the seventh year of king Artaxerxes. Ezra…
I’m Dead to Sin? Really?
DId you know that, if you are a Christian, you are dead to sin? That's what Romans 6:2 boldly states: "How can we who died to sin still live in it?" You may be thinking, "I'm dead to sin? Really?…
Praise and Prayer Update (May 23, 2025)
A few weeks back, I asked you to pray with us about some upcoming ministry opportunities Linda and I were anticipating. I (Rick) was scheduled to speak at a men’s conference and also invited to train a group of pastors…
Praise and Prayer Update (May 3, 2025)
As we move into May and June, we are preparing for a number of ministry opportunities. I'd value your prayers for God's power and protection as we present His Word.